I’ve been reading these Batman Arkham trade paperbacks, as they are collections of tales featuring famous Batman villains that cover their earliest stories up to their most modern. This volume on Mr. Freeze was pretty enjoyable, even if he was a fairly weak character until he was reinvented in the ’90s for Batman: The Animated Series.

Reading these collections that span decades also shows you how a real hokey character can actually become quite compelling. Plus, it’s cool to see how different generations have rewritten Freeze’s origin. Granted, I will always see his origin as the one that was established in Batman: The Animated Series, which was adapted into the comics shortly after. The newer twist to his origin isn’t nearly as good, where Nora wasn’t his wife but was his long dead mother.

Most of the stories here are pretty entertaining. I like reading the really old school classic stuff and it is cool seeing where the character came from and how he originally burst onto the scene. Mr. Freeze was originally called Mr. Zero but that was changed after his first appearance.

The best Freeze stories are the ’90s ones, though. The story in here that was done by Paul Dini, who also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, was by far the best tale in this collection.

Mr. Freeze is an interesting villain that has changed a lot over the years. While he isn’t as iconic as the Joker or the Riddler, he is still one of Batman’s toughest foes and a collection of his top stories was long overdue.

Rating: 7.25/10Pairs well with: The other villain anthologies under the Batman – Arkham banner.